Signifyd webinar key takeaways – stopping ATO and fraud across travel and ticketing

Irina Ionescu, Senior Editor at The Paypers, uncovers the key takeaways from the latest webinar with Signifyd about stopping account takeover (ATO) and fraud across the travel and ticketing industry.

The webinar ‘Stopping ATO & fraud across travel & ticketing’ moderated by The Paypers, explored the growing fraud challenges facing the airline and travel sectors. With travel fraud surging by an 890%, airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs) are under pressure to combat account takeovers and loyalty programme abuse that threaten both revenue and customer trust.

The webinar was hosted by The Paypers’ Managing Director, Melisande Mual, and featured Xavi Sheikrojan, Director of Risk Intelligence at Signifyd, and Lucie Frieberová, Senior Risk Specialist at Kiwi.com. Together, they unpacked the industrialisation of fraud in travel and discussed the strategies needed to protect digital identities, safeguard loyalty value, and maintain a frictionless experience for genuine customers. 

Below we have summarised the webinar’s key takeaways.

The new currency of travel: why loyalty points are at risk

Kiwi.com’s specialist, Lucie Frieberová, has nine years of experience in the travel risk management and has observed a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour - travellers today expect more than a flight; they want a complete, connected experience rather than a single servicecustomers are not only looking to buy flights but expect a complete experience rather than a single service. This evolution has transformed from simple preference profiles into digital wallets holding significant monetary value.

Modern travellers actively use their loyalty accounts for a wide range of purchases, from flight upgrades to everyday goods through co-branded travel cards. As Xavi Sheikrojan noted in the discussion, customers are using the full benefits of these loyalty accounts, which makes them ‘incredibly attractive targets for fraudsters who recognise there is more value than ever locked inside all these accounts.’

The industrialisation of fraud: Telegram’s dark marketplace

Fraud has become a completely industrialised operation, with Xavi personally monitoring over 50 different Telegram groups. He describes these platforms becoming increasingly sophisticated marketplaces where fraudsters purchase or exchange stolen credentials, have access to automated tools, and even buy Fraud-as-a-Service packages for just a few euros.

Telegram channels function as knowledge-sharing hubs where fraudsters exchange tactics, public guides, and continuously refine their methods, creating a criminal university focused on breaking into travel systems faster and more efficiently. 

The fraud Holy Trinity: ATO, payment fraud, and friendly fraud

The webinar guests identified three primary fraud vectors that plague the travel industry – account takeover (ATO), traditional payment fraud, and friendly fraud.

• Account takeover (ATO): with nearly 10 billion usernames and passwords exposed in data breaches, fraudsters now have access to a massive supply of credentials. The 890% YoY increase in ATO attacks on loyalty programmes represents an existential threat to airlines and OTAs. As Lucie from kiwi.com noted, these attacks are particularly damaging because fraudsters gain access to entire customer histories, stored payment methods, and accumulated loyalty points.
• Traditional payment fraud: despite advances in fraud prevention, 27% of airlines report higher than average fraud pressure from stolen credit and debit cards. Fraudsters target high-value, time-sensitive tickets that can be easily resold, with popular tourist destinations like Dubai, Cancun, and Bangkok being prime targets due to their high resale value.
• First-party fraud: also known as friendly fraud, it represents 33% of merchant challenges. In today's economic climate, cost-conscious consumers sometimes attempt to game the system through illegitimate chargebacks or refund claims, often aided by Fraud-as-a-Service providers on Telegram who promise to reverse ticket costs while customers still travel.

However, the impact of fraud extends beyond immediate financial losses, with reputational damage occurring when legitimate customers blame merchants for compromised accounts, even though fraudsters are the ones behind. A fraudulent EUR 500 ticket can easily turn into a 1,000+ EUR loss when adding operational costs, partner reimbursements, and ticketing reissuing expenses. Moreover, the pollution of customer data by fake accounts makes it increasingly difficult for companies to understand the behaviour of real customers and accurately measure marketing ROI. 

The false positive problem and the path forward

According to the data shared by the panellists, 58% of rejected transactions are false positives, meaning legitimate customers being treated as fraudsters. Even more concerning, 43% of declined customers will not return to the merchant after this experience, which sheds light on the gravity of the problem in the airline industry. As Xavi warns, fraud prevention that relies solely on static rules doesn’t only stop fraud but also stops revenue.

In fact, one airline studied lost over USD 16 million due to false positives alone from declining genuine booking requests. In an industry where customer acquisition is expensive and loyalty is paramount, every false decline represents a potentially broken relationship.

Thus, the experts emphasised that static rules are no longer sufficient for modern fraud prevention. Instead, successfully preventing fraud without losing revenue and customer loyalty requires sophisticated machine learning models that analyse multiple data categories, including identity data, behavioural signal, device intelligence, and transactional patterns.

According to Xavi, there are several airline-specific features that prove particularly efficient when fighting fraud, that include geo-data consistency checks, high-risk route identification, booking window analysis, and even family indicators – fraudsters rarely book tickets for children. 

Conclusions

The travel industry stands at a critical juncture. As loyalty programmes become increasingly valuable and fraud tactics grow more sophisticated, the traditional approach of static rules and reactive measures is no longer sustainable. The winners in this new landscape will be those who invest in adaptive, machine learning-driven defences that can distinguish between genuine travellers and fraudsters, without creating friction for legitimate customers.

As Xavi Sheikrojan concludes, fraudsters are not standing still; the winners will be the ones who choose to invest in adaptive machine learning-driven defences that stops fraud without slowing down real travellers. With fraud costing the travel industry over USD 3 billion annually and growing faster than traditional payment fraud, the time for action is now.

Want to find out more on how to win the loyalty game in the airline and ticketing industry? Watch the full webinar featuring Signifyd and Kiwi.com on demand here.

 

About the author

Irina is a Senior Editor at The Paypers, primarily specialising in online payments and fraud prevention. She has a Ph.D. in Economics and a strong economic academic background, with interests in fraud prevention, chargebacks, fintech, ecommerce, and online payments. Reach out to her via LinkedIn or email at irina@thepaypers.com.

 

About Signifyd

Signifyd provides an end-to-end commerce protection platform that leverages its commerce network to maximise conversion, automate customer experience, and eliminate fraud and consumer abuse for retailers. Signifyd is headquartered in San Jose, CA., with locations in Denver, New York, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Belfast, and London.